Crayons

I have determined that the life span of a box of crayons in Children's Church is not more than 9 months. Actually, it's about 6 months of living and 3 months on life support.

About 9 months ago I bought 6 new boxes of crayons from Dollarama. (Before you begin to wonder just how cheap I am, understand that they are Crayola crayons and they are boxes of 24. These are not cheap crayons; they are simply inexpensive!) Three months ago I straightened out the boxes (again) and determined that I had 2 complete sets of crayons, 3 mostly complete sets, and 1 box of broken crayon pieces. I figured they would last a few more months before I needed to replace them. Last Sunday I noticed that no one has a complete set anymore, so I decided it's time for new ones.

Side note: I understand the broken crayons. I do not know how so many disappear. When I'm teaching we check the table, the chairs, and the floor for crayons. It's after I haven't been teaching that I need to go through the boxes for the kids and reorganize the sets so they have the right colours (yes I spoil them; your point is?) and that's usually when I find out how many are missing. I don't think everyone is as compulsive as I am about making sure we have all the crayons at the end of class.

Anyway...today I bought new crayons. Six beautiful boxes. The kids will be very happy Sunday morning. The old crayons always go to the nursery unless the youngest Sunday School class wants them. I always feel a bit bad about that; basically I'm saying, "Here are some crayons that are no longer good enough for my kids so your kids can have them." On the other hand, we are talking about children who still eat crayons, so it's probably okay!